Seven Passengers
by NMartin
Summary: Set after Swan Song (5x11). The ferryman brings the group to the Underworld, where they meet the King and Queen. Emma makes a deal with Hades and Persephone, but as they go back they find a new obstacle. Because what if, to bring Killian back to life, someone else had to stay in the Underworld?


"He's here."

The sigh that escaped Emma's lips made everyone else shiver. Unlike the ones that usually entered the Underworld, they carried no coins, no payment for their passages. And so Charon refused to carry them across the river. Regina was infuriated, Emma was devastated. Their journey to the Underworld was over without having even started. But Gold was grinning.

"I'm sure we can make a deal, Charon, dearie."

"I make no deals with the living."

"What if I offer you a newly deceased soul?"

"Gold, what the hell are you—" Emma muttered, approaching him but being stopped by the man's magic. David did the same, alarmed by the fact that his daughter seemed to be suspended between motions. And again, Gold stopped him. Snow went to do the same, but an eye-rolling Regina stopped her.

"Don't. He knows what he is doing."

Gold smiled. Moving his hand in front of him, a flask appeared in it. "A deceased soul, barely a few days." he spoke, handing the small bottle to the psychopomp. He took it, hand appearing from dirty cloak hanging from his shoulders. Observing it under his black hood, his mouth hidden under his unkempt beard. And finally, he nodded. The man standing in front of all of them turned and grinned, a brow raised. "Shall we go, dearies?"

They passed through Grief and Anxiety, Diseases and Old Age. Fear, Hunger, Death, Agony, and Sleep. The Guilty Joys. They saw chimeras, harpies, even a hydra. They kept a certain distance from Charon, some due to fear, Regina and Gold due to respect. There was no one better than them to know the powers of dark magic. A soft growl was starting to be heard across the river, slowly getting louder and louder. Back they left the distributary rivers that headed towards Elysium, the Fields of Asphodel and the Fields of Punishment. Regina and Emma, sitting at both of Henry's sides, looked at each other, silently telling the other that it would be okay. At this, Robin held his girlfriend's hand a bit tighter. The growls were loud now, accompanied by heavy breathing and sound of something scratching on the floor. Across the river, bright eyed and guarding the gates of the Underworld, was Cerberus.

"We have to fight… _that?!_ " Henry questioned with wide eyes.

"I won't waste much more of my valuable time for that pirate." Gold told him with a smile, making Emma glare at him as he stood up and stepped out of the boat. He dragged his hand through the air and a lyre appeared on the floor, playing a soft, harmonic melody. The animal's yellow eyes rolled, his eyelids seemed to feel heavy and closed slowly. It gave a final growl, and then started snoring. "Much better, _Spot._ "

They slowly made their way next to the dog, all of them looking at his black hair. "If it did not have its three heads ready to bite off our heads, I'd even find him cute." Regina muttered with a raised brow, making Robin frown. "What? Are you a more of a cat's person?"

"Yeah."

Emma smiled, it was cute how Regina and Robin were still getting to know each other… and she was a bit happy that they weren't so compatible at all. Yes, she did not like them together, but as brunette's best friend she felt obliged to take care of her. And Robin… the complication with the man's newborn was not healthy. "I like him." she said, taking Regina's side. "Would make an amazing guard dog against curses or Dark Ones."

Thankful that Emma was starting to be herself again, Regina and her made it to the gates, already opened as Gold walked in front of them. Their steps echoed in the midst that surrounded them, the narrow corridor making them feel slightly claustrophobic. It got narrower for many meters, making them in line. Gold was followed by Regina, whose hand was taking Henry's. Following them were Emma and the Charmings, while Robin closed the group with his crossbow pointing to their backs. "Everyone's dead here," they heard David whisper. "I don't think that you can kill them with that."

"Who dares to come to our kingdom?" a female voice questioned. Sitting on a throne, a woman stared at the group as they entered the room. Smoke surrounded her as if her hair was on fire, her black dress was ripped but still elegant. Despite her appearance, her face was round and her smile seemed kind. Her lips were plump, her skin was dark, her eyes were green. Next to her, a man, pale as ash, with hair black and long, with a tunic the same still as his queen's. "A queen, a Savior, two royals, an Author, a Dark One and…" the woman raised a brow and smirked. "A thief."

"You're not dead."

"You are so smart, my love." the woman said with a laugh, standing up and walking— no, _floating—_ towards them. She offered her hand to the leader of the group, the kind smile never leaving her face. "Rumpelstiltskin. It's been centuries since we last saw you. And you must be Queen Regina, from the Enchanted Forest." she gave a nod with her head as acknowledgement, a queen talking to another queen. The redhead turned to the youngest of the group. "Your son, Henry… Might not be yours, but he is just like you. And Emma Swan, yes. I've heard about you." Emma shifted awkwardly. She would have to ask this woman to let her bring the love of her life back to her world, and this was literally the queen of hell. She sighed. "We'll talk about that once we all have met each other. Snow White and Prince Charming, welcome. And Robin of Loxley, I'm sad to hear what happened to your wife… but congratulations on your newborn."

"Why are you always so nice to everyone." the man sitting on the throne grunted.

"Oh, stop being such a rude host, Hades. No wonder why no one wants to stay here."

"Really, that is why you think no one likes the Underworld?"

"That and your decoration skills." she spoke with another laugh. If the group hadn't been so nervous and scared by the Underworld, the scene would have been even funny. But all of them, except for Gold, were terrified. And cold, they were so cold. "I'd offer you food and drinks, but I feel you are here for something more important. So tell me, what are you here for?"

"My boyfriend, Killian." Emma spoke, stepping forward. Persephone turned her face to her, raising a brow. "After a fight, he… he… he died, two days ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"What Emma means to say," Regina spoke, knowing that the blonde was still too hurt to speak properly. And she was the one who knew the proper etiquette when speaking towards a queen. "Is that he was tricked to take his own life in an attempt to save our world from the forces of evil."

"Evil, huh?" Hades smiled with amusement. "I don't remember causing trouble in the Overworld."

"Darling, despite what you are not the centre of the Universe, there are other kinds of evil in the Overworld."

"Lies."

"Anyway," Persephone continued. "Why would you come here to tell us that? Unless..."

"Emma has lost her loved ones too many times, and she finally found love in Killian. We, as her friends and family, decided to come here and negotiate with you. We want to ask you, King and Queen of the Underworld, to let us take him back to the Overworld with us." Regina explained.

"Oh no, not this again." Hades complained.

"Hades, his death was tragic and unfair."

"All deaths are tragic or unfair, Persephone."

"Let them."

"No. We did this once, you know how that all ended."

"I'm not coming back next winter."

"You're bonded here, love."

"I will not bring you more wine then."

"Alright, alright."

"Thank you, my love." Persephone spoke. "But with one condition. You will walk in front of him, and none of you will be able to look at him. If your eyes make any kind of contact with the man, he will be gone forever."

"Deal." Emma rushed to say. It seemed easy for the blonde, but Regina knew it would not be. She swallowed hard and turned to the group.

"Okay. Gold, you go first. Robin, David, Henry and Snow next, then Emma. I'll go last."

"No." Hades stood up. "The lover must go last or there will be no deal."

Regina sighed and turned to Emma, then walked to her. "Don't look at him. Look forward all the time." she whispered. The blonde nodded, feeling tears in her eyes. Regina took her hand and pressed it slightly. "You can do this." she added before turning around. The room felt even colder, dark smoke appearing from the exit and floating towards them.

"Swan." a voice spoke. Killian was behind them.

Emma froze. She wanted to turn, she wanted to run towards him, she wanted to hug him. But Regina got her arm, holding it and making her unable to turn without picking up a fight. "Don't." she heard her whisper. And Emma swallowed hard, unable to contain a tear as they started walking towards the exit.

The way back felt longer, it was becoming eternal. Regina held Emma's arm, not letting her turn, giving her the strength to carry on. Killian remained silent, and with each step she took Emma couldn't stop worrying. What if this was a trick and Killian was not really there? What if Persephone was not as moved by her love towards the man, and she was just as bad as her husband? She had read their myth when she was little, but she had been proven that not all fairy tales were as they were told. What if when she turned to look at Killian there was only darkness? She wanted to turn around, so much. But the narrow corridor became wider, and wider, they saw the river. Charon was there. It looked at them nonchalantly, in complete silence. Gold stopped, but Snow walked to the boat— being stopped by the psychopomp's hand.

"Too many passengers." he said.

"W-what?" Emma questioned. They all looked at each other, standing in line in front of the pirate, avoiding to look at him.

"Too many passengers."

"But, we are the same ones!" Emma complained, stepping forward once more. "Just that Killian is coming back with us..." she muttered. They fell silent as the pieces of the puzzle were put together. It suddenly all made sense. Their eyes widened and they looked at each others, wondering what to do. "Regina, what… what does he mean?" Emma questioned, trembling.

"Well…" Regina sighed. _It's important that we stick together. Same amount of people that go through have to come back. No more, no less._ She remembered the hatter had told her that years before. She had tricked him, but she had not broken the rule. "He means that since we were seven when we came here, only seven can come back."

"But that's—"

"Those are the rules, Emma. I can't do anything about them."

"There must be something… we came here to… it can't be possible..."

"Henry, the two idiots, Robin, get on the boat." Regina ordered as Emma processed what was happening. They did as she told, stepping into the grey wooden ship. "Emma and Gold, get on too. I'll stay here."

"What?! Why?! No!" Emma snapped, looking at the woman. Standing half turned, she felt the temptation to look at her boyfriend, but she managed to not to do so. "Regina, you can't do that. What about Henry? And me? And Robin?"

"Even though I'm moved that you included yourself in there, we came here for Killian. And I haven't gone through literal hell to come back with empty hands."

"Then why don't we just leave Gold here?! It wouldn't be that much of a loss."

"As much as I want to leave him here, he was the one to pay for our passage. He has to come back, or Charon's deal will be broken."

"Regina you can't, I can't let you."

"Emma, if you want to come back with Killian, we have no other option."

"But I can't, you… you can't. What about Henry? You can't leave him, you can't leave us."

"Emma, it's okay. If I give you your happy ending, Henry will be okay. He has you, and the two idiots, and everyone else. I am sure I'll get Persephone's favor, one way or another. It will not be bad." she spoke. Of course, she did not believe her own words. She stared at the blonde with fake conviction, trying to keep her head high. She could already feel the Underworld's darkness coming towards them.

"Regina, I'll stay." Robin spoke, standing up to get off the boat.

"Robin, don't. Your daughter needs you."

"Regina, please don't. There must be another way."

"There isn't, Emma. There isn't." she sighed. And with that, her hands pushed Emma into the boat, making her stumble and fall on top of her parents. The blonde turned and stared at her, watching Regina step backwards, eyes closing. "Hook, take care of her. Take care of Emma." she whispered, looking down to her feet. Fists closed, she did not hear steps, she did not hear anything. But a scream broke the silence, a scream of horror and pure pain. Regina opened her eyes, and turned.

Killian was shaking, his body squirming. His face was contorted as he screamed, the horrible vision of the darkness surrounding him and pulling him back. He fell, tried to grab the floor, nails digging into the dirt. "Swan, no! Emma, Emma, please, Emma!"

And then he was gone.

* * *

Crossing back the river, they all sat in a silence only broken by Emma's sobs. No one dared to say anything, no words could calm the woman. Her son hugged her, but he did not look at her. Everyone avoided to, the pain seemed unreal when they did. Everyone except but Regina. The brunette had spend the whole trip staring at the blonde, searching an answer to the question in her mind. _Why did she save me?_

"The travel is finished." Charon spoke.

Without realizing it, they had reached Storybrooke. It was dawn, the air was cold and chilly. They dragged themselves out of the boat, stepping into the dirt and helping each other. Emma and Regina were the last. They turned, watching Charon disappear back into the mist that covered the lake. He was gone, the Underworld had been closed.

"Well that was a failure." Gold spoke before disappearing. Robin and the others stared at the floor, not daring to say anything. Regina sighed and took Emma's arm, making her walk away from the others.

"What the hell was that?! Why did you just not leave me there?!"

"It wasn't fair, Regina. It wasn't fair."

"Life is not fair, Emma. I was trying to give you your happy ending."

"Yes, by taking away our son's."

"What?!"

"Regina, you and I are Henry's happy ending. Not you, not me. Us. You are Henry's mother as much as I am, and I will not let anything to happen to you."

"Henry would have been fine without me."

"No. None of us would have been okay without you."

"You should have traded me for Killian. You were stupid."

"No, Regina. I would never trade you for him. You…" she sighed and looked down, to the hand that still held her arm. She freed herself and took it, her gaze moving down to the floor. "You are my best friend and my family. I'd never change what we have for a man that I still— that I still was not able to say I truly loved."

"So now what?"

"Now we go home. I'm sure everyone is waiting for us."

And so they made their way back to the town, Robyn leading the way. Snow and David followed, talking with Henry about how strange the Underworld was. The Savior look at her hand, still wrapped around Regina's. Soon everything would be okay.

* * *

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